Help me in setting up a LAN please.

Hello there,

I have following equipments:
1. One HP laptop with Windows 7 Ultimate 32bit
2. One PC with Windows Xp
3. One Hub
4. One ADSL modem with an Internet connection
5. All the required cables and adapters etc

I want to setup a LAN comprising PC and laptop systems via hub and then provide this LAN with the Internet connection via the ADSL modem. Can you people help me please.

Thanks

It would be great if you filled out your system spec's since it will become invaluable to others wishing to help you in the future.

I would simply give you network a name and apply encryption using your XP PC as the manager of your network then share the network resources. Once that part is operational go into Network setup in control panel on the laptop and give the network name that you established on the XP PC and the encryption key generated and it will find your network (I expect you will be using the laptop wireless so this needs to be done once and further connections will be automatic if you choose this).
You will have to share drives on the laptop if you want the PC to see them and then you would need to add a network connection for the shared drives on both the PC and laptop.

Thanks for your responce fishnbanjo. I will update my system specifications as soon as possible.
But I need help at more basic level please. Still waiting...

Thanks again.

Okay. Let me tell you guys what I know and what I want to know:
What I Have Done:
I connect both the PC and the laptop to the hub with appropriate cables. Then I connect the ADSL modem with the hub (with the appropriate cable, off course) and set every thing ON. Both the PC and the laptop have Internet connection.
What I Want:
Now I want the PC and the laptop to behave as If two hosts in a LAN. What settings I have to make on PC and laptop for this? Please help me.

Thanks.

I thought I was the only one confused LOL, guess not. For the sake of simplicity lets toss in a router after the modem then connect the hub "or switch" to the router and then plug both machines into either the hub or the router. I call that the easy way, no need to reinvent the wheel for a simple LAN set up is there?

A picture is worth a thousand words
The blue device on the left is "ZXDSL 831 Series Modem Router". I was calling it modem.
The white device on the left, labelled "BayLan" is what I am calling hub and it is "5-P Ethernet hub" (model# EH5T)
The blue cable in the hub is going to the PC, the white one to the laptop and the gray is going to the modem router

Now, I guess, everything is clear. Thanks

Thanks Adrian. Then what should I do ?